Satyagrah and terrorism!

Bombay has been shaken, so has been the foundations of Indian democracy. In the last 6 months we have had more than 8 chain blasts in this nation. What are the implications and causes? With these there are other stray violence related to militants, (a)cross-border fire-exchange, naxal movements, mafia-war etc etc. Its as if we are in the midst of a civil war. And no one seems to be thinking about the root cause and how to eradicate this feeling of insecurity. Most of us want an eye for an eye (sometimes both the eyes for an eye). This will leave the whole world blind! So what is the solution?

Lets communicate. Lets talk, lets chat across all borders of caste, religion and region. Let the other not feel insecure.

Lets help out. Swayam-seva eba swaseva! i.e volunteering is basically serving ones own self!

And lastly, lets pray and repent for the fault of our keens (yes you are right, the terrorists!).

And let us spread this news that we stand together against all terror and terroism; terrorists ye be warned!! We will not finish you, we will finish the terror in you and will convert you!

We have had enough of blame game. As Captain Jack Sparrow would say, "there comes a time my friend when you should take the responsibility of your own deeds!" We have been callous and this is the result. Lets act sensible, lets have compassion...

Satyagrah II

There were some nice discussions on my last blog, discussions which were more lucid than the seed-blog. Hence am putting them in this blog:

deepanshu said...

I am sorry to say but I found the blog a bit absurd. (now I might be naive but if you can elaborate, it will be clearer) "To first understand truth, you have to first love all the things and beings" why??
I understand that a rotten thing stinks and I keep away from it. same with people. how can you love someone/somethings when they are not pleasing to your senses be it intellectual or moral. moreover how can i love/like something, it always comes from within. Simulating emotions might be a lie(not satyagrah).

Secondly, loving or granting your sanction to everything is equal to giving someone something what he actually doesn't deserve. And just like currency, if you give it to everyone, it finally has no value. And thus the person who really deserves your love/appreciation gets that hollow coin which everyone already has.Thus injustice.
Personally I believe by doing justice, by giving your sanction to deserving and scorn/criticism to undeserving, keeps the value of your moral currency. Now doing justice is another form of satyagrah, isn't it?

lastly, the basic assumption underlying in the love story is that boy also loves gal and thus he cannot see her suffer. was it really true with Gandhi and British? doesn't self-sacrifice dwell on other's mercy, his wish to care or not. Isn't this weakness.

2:19 AM

Mister Mangu said...

You are right deepanshu. But most of these arguments are given by looking at what the other deserves or not; if the other loves you or not. These depend on without, whereas emotions are from within. Certainly you cant fake an emotion, nor should you. That will be fundamentally against satyagrah. A flower emits fragrance. Its its characteristics. It does not matter if its in a forest, or in a temple or in a whore-house. Similarly once we get that stage, we cant but love. This will not depend on what the other deserves .

What is truth? I don't know. But its something I wish to know. Truth about me, about you and about this creation. Its like any profession. Unless I like circuits, I cant understand them properly. Unless I like maths, I can never be truly able to understand it. Similarly when it comes to truth about the creation, I have to first love it all...nay, love should come to my heart of its own accord for all... for the whole creation.

What I presumed about Gandhi and Brits, is just my assumption. It may not necessarily be true. But it may be true as well. When I love, its because I enjoy loving. If I suffer because I cant see my beloved ones doing mistake, then that cleanses my spirit. Its all me. There is no dependence on others.

About weakness... you may have heard Gandhi saying "ahimsa is only for the strongest"! It needs real strength to stick to your principles, even when the whole world is against you, even when your wife may die if she does not take beef-soup, even when you son may die if he does not take brandy... Thats why Vardhamana Jaina is called Mahavir (when all he preached was extreme nonviolence!).
PS: Most of what I just have written is bookish. But may be an iota is there which came from my heart.

satyagrah!

Some people hate Gandhi, some treat him as a saint. I have been trying to understand what exactly he used to say. Luckily I got a rusty old book from Howrdah station this Puja, named "Vinoba on Gandhi". Reading the book was enlightening. Of course this is one of my first books on Gandhian philosophy. And I am lucky to get Vinoba in my first book.

This is how he explains satyagrahi and the method of non-violence.

One who likes truth is satyagrahi. For that you have to first understand truth. And for that you have to first love all the things and beings. Love and hate are two blinders for us. Both have to be get rid of, to see truth. Getting rid of both being difficult, lets first get rid of hate. One who loves all cant harm anyone. This is ahimsha! Lets say, there is a love duo. Of them the guy smokes. The gal will try to explain things to him first. If that does not work, then she may try to take extreme steps. She may shout at him (but for his own good). And if she really loves him, she may not be able to shout at him. That case she may turtore herself to make him understand. This is nonviolence. It comes from love. Because you love the other person, you can not tolerate that he is doing something wrong. You try to explain things to him and worst case turtore your own self to make a point.

Mark that, nonviolent opposition is a misleading phrase. It can wither be opposition or nonviolent. Cant be both at a time.

So according to this Gandhi had to do fasting etc to make a point to the Brits. Its because of his love and compassion towards Brits. More on this in my next blog...!